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The start of Hispanic Heritage Month has me realizing that every day is Hispanic Heritage Month in this house/newsletter.

Like my mini-docs, my newsletter explores the hyphen between various topics through the lens of Latino culture. In this newsletter, I’m exploring the hyphen between:

- Fernando

There was a time when Guatemala was the No. 2 source of international adoptions to the U.S. That was before 2007.

That year a report from the Hague Conference on Private International Law found documented instances of fraud, corruption, coercion and vulnerabilities within the Guatemalan adoption system that had turned it into a “business.”

During the Guatemalan Civil War, which lasted 36 years, many indigenous Maya people were targeted by the country’s military. Their children were left orphaned and in other cases their parents coerced or the child forcibly removed from their parents and placed for adoption to turn a profit, according to the BBC.

In 2008, new adoptions between the U.S. and Guatemala stopped almost entirely, while the Central American country investigated and reformed its system.

Leah Noemi was adopted before that moratorium. She’s one of the “last” adoptees from Guatemala to the United States. When she was six months old, Leah was adopted by a family in Chicago. She started looking for her birth mom when she was a teen based on the name written on her documents.

She couldn’t find anyone by that name.

“She put a completely different person on the papers, untraceable, like she had used my biological father's sister's ID, who had died as a baby. And like, no one caught that,” she said. “Everything was false on my record. I think people at the adoption agency kind of turned some blind eyes.”

She found out her mom’s real name through a DNA genealogy service that revealed she had a sister in the United States from the same mother. Leah met her sister and they shared their adoption papers with each other. Only one thing was different: The mother’s name written on the forms.

Leah eventually met her birth mother and asked her why she used a fake name.

“She was 15. She was scared,” Leah said. “She didn't want the government, to trace it back to her. It was mainly out of fear and intimidation that she did it by like family members.”

I talk to Leah and another adoptee from Guatemala about their adoptions for my latest collaboration with Independent Lens and PBS. You can watch it here.

“My attitudes towards adoption, I would say, have soured the more I've learned about adoption,” Leah said. “This is going to be really controversial, but I don't know how to say this. Personally, I would not adopt. I think it just I think the adoption system is just so broken right now. I think it needs a lot of fixing.”

Every day, the ebook editions of huge New York Times bestsellers are discounted to just $2. While most are unaware, readers with the inside scoop are filling their libraries with these deals.

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Remembering Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw. I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting them, but I heard Eliana’s voice and saw George’s deftness countless times when I worked at NBCUniversal. George and Eliana were a helicopter pilot and aerial journalist, respectively, who were NBC Los Angeles’ eyes in the sky, covering police pursuits, traffic accidents, wildfires and whatever story warranted their unique vantage point that day. They died Tuesday when their helicopter went down in Chatsworth, California, near Los Angeles. I know so many people who knew them deeply and personally. What I know about Eliana, specifically, is that she always sounded like she truly enjoyed her job. And what a cool job she had. If you want to learn more about them, watch this tribute from NBC Los Angeles anchor and reporter Jonathan Gonzalez.

The immigrants deported to “third countries.” CBS News says it’s the first U.S. network to speak to the immigrants who were deported to Liberia in Africa. Many of the immigrants are from Latin America, and they were sent to countries that are not their home country as apart of the Trump administration’s hard-line stance on illegal immigration. What’s worth noting: Most of the people CBS spoke to won legal protections in American courts that prevent immigration enforcement from sending them to their home country because of concerns they could be tortured or persecuted there. [CBS News]

Lush goes Latino. The handmade cosmetics company just released its Día de Muertos collection, featuring products designed by their employees through their “Co-Create” program. I talked to one of the employees, Jailene Cuevas Mandujano, about how her late grandfather inspired her “Postrecito” design. [Watch my video here]

The story behind the “McMamalona.” You may have seen special edition McDonald’s cups featuring what some are calling the “McMamalona,” a red truck celebrating California’s Chicano truck culture. Well, the cups were designed by Bay Area (California) artist Cecelia Perez. The design was then turned into a mural in Stockton, California, by artist Carlos Lopez. The cups are available in Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento and Chico, California, while supplies last.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DchqYaujNC_/?img_index=2

Elsewhere, McDonald’s is embracing lucha libre, transforming restaurants across L.A. and San Diego into activations featuring masked wrestlers, live in-ring action and other family fun.

A new Mexican beauty brand expands U.S. retail. The brand, co-founded by beauty creator Anna Sarelly, launched in 600+ Target stores and Target.com last week. You’ll find products like “Cow Lashes Waterproof Mascara” and “Lavadero Waterproof Makeup Remover.”

Heart disease is now the leading cause of death among Hispanic adults, surpassing cancer. That’s according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association. The change is driven by rising rates of obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. The statement cites data that shows 46% of Hispanic adults have obesity and 44% have high blood pressure.

Amazon Pharmacy launched a fully Spanish-language version. The company said it’s doing so to serve the 45 million people in the U.S. who primarily speak Spanish at home. The launch comes with 24/7 access to licensed pharmacists in Spanish.

Go to Hawaii, and there’s a chance your Uber driver will a Puerto Rican woman who moved with her ex-husband to Hawaii three years ago.

That’s what happened to me when I was on Oahu a few weeks ago.

Oahu was also the place where I’ve met the most Puerto Ricans I have in the span of two hours, and I grew up in Chicago (big Puerto Rican population there).

This isn’t a recent phenomenon, either. Puerto Rico and Hawaii have a long, shared history.

I went to Hawaii to learn more about it and the recent phenomenon that’s leading to Puerto Rican migration to Hawaii.

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This section is a random musing from the week that is not related to my work as a journalist, usually. 

This week’s musing:

Last year, I was booked and busy with speaking gigs and brand deals for Hispanic Heritage Month. This year, I’m not. I think that’s just a me thing, and thankfully, general market brand deals are keeping me busy. But I’m curious what other people are seeing with Hispanic Heritage Month this year? Are you seeing more or fewer month-specific campaigns, events, etc. Respond to this email! I read every response.